At the SharePoint Conference 2014, Microsoft promised new consolidated Office 365 APIs that would be available for apps on all platforms. This would allow developers to develop solutions based on Office 365, which would be able to span all major platforms - including rival platforms to Windows. (Please watch the above video.) Now assuming, based on the tone of the video above, that Microsoft will be even handed in making Office 365 solutions work across all platforms, the above spells the unravelling of Windows within the enterprise, exacerbating the erosion of the relevance of Windows in the consumer market.

Consider the following quote about Jeff Raikes, a former head of Office, made in this article: 'Raikes described applications such as Office as a "moat" that protects the dominant Windows operating system business.' Now it is a fact, that exclusivity of apps on a platform, creates defenses around the platform, and makes the platform hard to conquer. This is precisely why Windows is untouchable in the enterprise. Office, along with countless line of business programs used by companies, which are only found on Windows, make Windows indispensable in this environment. Even Microsoft is finding it very hard to counter Android and iOS on smartphones, because of apps these platforms have, which the Windows Phone platform does not have.

Now a major reason Windows is having such a hard time in the consumer market, is because Microsoft whole heartedly embraced and supported the web, as an application platform, which rivaled its own Windows platform. Because Microsoft poured a whole lot of resources onto the web, to the point where most new projects took place on the web vs. its own Windows platform, Microsoft became instrumental in undermining the relevance of its own platform, in favor of a rival's. Now Microsoft is worsening this situation by making Office and rich Office 365 enhanced solutions, be available on all major platforms. So not only will Windows continue to struggle in the consumer market, Microsoft will be deliberately knocking down the barriers around Windows in the enterprise, leading to the platform's diminished relevance, and possible demise - in the business, as well as the consumer market.

I don't know if this is supposed to be some kind of "new age" thinking at Microsoft, but the bottom line is that it makes no sense. Microsoft's developers, customers, enthusiasts, and sales, are mostly anchored to Windows client. Once Windows client unravels, Microsoft's various platform ecosystems will go into upheaval, and there will be a mass exodus of developers from the overall Microsoft ecosystem. Without these developers, Microsoft's various platforms will be in crisis, because they will no longer be supported by their main stay of developers. If Microsoft does in fact take this new 'open' path, then the days of Microsoft being a great tech company, will be numbered.Patmore Douglas